From the very first time I saw (firefly?) movie recommendations in 1996, I've thought collaborative filtering was one of the most amazing technologies to be applied to the massive data stores on the Internet.
The great thing about pure collaborative filtering is that it can easily take into account anomalous preferences a human wouldn't otherwise think to put together. It can handle anomalous recommendations based on others who have similarly discordant viewing or listening habits. However, I do agree that sometimes you get unexpected results.
Maybe if I watch some gay porn, TiVo will record that Bissel Wet-Vac "it'll put any neatnick in hog heaven" commercial for me!
I don't mean to throw a wet towel on all the fun, but why are we even trying to compare a computer to the brain? It's been hashed out a million times (plus the re-hashing above) that brains and computers do different things better/worse than each other. We don't need an electronic brain - we already have, what, 5 billion brains in operation today. What we need are better computers to do things that brains aren't good at.
A parallel to the brain/computer argument is the person/robot argument. We don't need robots to do the same things the same way people already do. We need robots that do things people can't do (deep sea diving, poisinous/radioactive environment work, etc.), or to do things people can do, but in different ways (faster, smaller, bigger, etc.) That's why you do see useful car-building robots that don't look at all like people, but no Jetsons' maid robots bringing us martinis.
So build new computers that can do things brains can't do. What's the point of comparing a computer to a brain?
But movie renal companies want you to come back to the store. Returning their property is only half the reason. The other half is that if you are forced to return, you pick up another movie while you're there!
Why do you think BlockBuster went to 3-day rentals way back when mom and pop stores were trying to maximize there $ per day by making you bring the movie back the very next day? Most people are not ready to spend 2-3 hours watching another movie two nights in a row. But studies showed most people would be willing to watch another movie 3 days later!
She'd only do you if you're a woman, and if she doesn't mind about the whole adultery thing. She's currently dating Elizabeth Birch of the gay-rights group HRC. And you'd have to deal with their adopted twins Jacob and Anna.
Just because some first movers didn't last, doesn't mean all first movers don't last.
Just because some second movers make it, doesn't mean all second movers will make it.
It seems like this oversimplification ignores how a business operates and adjusts to changing competitive landscapes.
When I first started learning HTML, web design, CGI scripting, etc. I remember that the simplicity of HTML tags and the fault tolerance of browsers were the most amazing things I had ever seen. Never mind that you could put text, images, and hyperlinks on a worldwide public network -- the fact that most of your stuff displayed right, even if some tags weren't exactly to spec was incredible. No computer scripting or compiled language was ever like that before -- they freaked if a single character was improperly placed! This was a whole new world of smart programs that made it easy for every-day people to do important (or not so important) stuff. This was a mini-revolution in it's own right.
If fault tolerance goes away (mostly because it's hard for the programmers to implement), we'll be losing one of the greatest benefits of the Web: it's ease of publishing for the common person.
These were probably the most expensive surgeries ever. Why would someone go all the way to the south pole for knee surgery? I'm sure there are plenty of docs in highly populated areas where those needing the surgery live.
A few basic things need to be addressed before opens source desktop advertising (or any other online advertising) will ever work:
1) Ads don't just happen: Someone has to represent the medium to advertisers. What's the inventory available? What's the click-through rate? What's the sale close rate? What are the selects (targeting)? What's the price? Who are your other customers? Are you exposing my brand to happy people, or to people angry about all the dang advertising? What are some success stories? Why should I even bother advertising on your platform? These are generally human-to-human sales interactions.
I love Google's self-serve ads. Maybe someone could write a self-serve automated ad-sales rep? I'd love to see honest reporting on advertising effectiveness (i.e. no human "spin" hiding the crappy return on ads.) This could become the industry benchmark for open ad sales info.
2. Targeting and Privacy: Just throwing any ad out there to anyone won't work in a direct-response medium like the Web (or desktop OS). The privacy issue must be addressed. Once that's solved, people can actually tell advertisers what kinds of ads they want to see and are likely to respond to.
(Though I'm sure no/. reader will ever want to provide any data to anyone, other people out there will.)
3. How often do you really buy stuff? Just because you see a zillion ads every day doesn't mean you buy a zillion things every day. What's the right volume of ads to show to any one person over a given time?
The sleaze has gotten out of hand; it's time to roast a group of 20 or so companies whose profits are directly linked to creating fear in their customers, who have to keep discovering new sources of fear to improve their bottom line - or in the absence of new discoveries, keep inventing new sources of fear.
This sounds like the exact same tactics the Democratic Party uses to scare people into voting for their candidates.
This is a good development. It will keep access affordable for those who are casual users of the Internet, while asking those who are heavy users to actually pay for what they use. Putting an economic value on this activity will keep overall BW loads down -- making the I'net faster for everyone.
Of course, there are some who think that casual users shouldn't be on the I'net in the first place. I disagree with that.
Wow! 7 long pages of comments on this already. I read the first two pages, and the last, so hopefully I'm not repeating another post:
GO TO COLLEGE - IT'S THE MOST FUN YOU'LL EVER HAVE IN YOUR LIFE
Even if you go and major in Underwater Basket Weaving and still become a sys admin, college is the most fun you'll ever have (have I already said that?)
You'll find in a real college that there are none the petty high school rivalries, jealousies, bullies, etc. You'll meet thousands of new people who are really interested in studying something besides who's dating whom. (Certain) chicks WILL dig you, and if that's not what you're into, certain guys will dig you too.
You'll meet lots of smart folks who are into the exact same thing you're into (games, programming, surfing, etc.) There's no better place.
My only other suggestion would be to go to a college where not many people from your high school are going. Start a whole new life!
Another reason not to worry: we exist. Had lots of these things been hitting the earth, killing of bits of life or civilizations here and there over the eons, we wouldn't be here.
After reading the following from the article I was reading, I think the conference table must be destined to be the Department of Redundancy Department conference room table.
"...we hope to safely store samples of all samples that can be stored safely."
VAT is an acronym for "Value Added Tax". Let's say I buy enough metal, glass, and rubber for $10,000 to build a car that I sell for $19,000. The VAT is based on the $9,000 value I added to the raw materials.
How the heck to you calculate value added on software? I'm not sure if labor is considered a raw material for VAT purposes, but that's basically all software is. (I'm also not sure if overhead like hardware, buldings, heating, etc. are covered in VAT.)
If you look at simple margins (roughtly equivalent to value add?) on software, customers of companies like Microsoft are going to have to pay a heck of a lot of taxes since much of their sofware products have margins above 80%!
Lastly, the following situation is exectly why there are so many US companies incorporated in the tiny state of Delaware. The EU will have to learn to deal with situations like that.
"But member states blocked that idea [of a single EU-wide VAT]. They feared companies would all set up for business in low-tax Luxembourg."
Thank God we've turned another toy (Leggos) into a useful technology! I constantly lose sleep over the Aztec/wheel mistake: they had the wheel, but only used it in toys, not to advance their civilization. (Not sure if it was the Aztecs, maybe the Incas or the Olmecs...) I'm constantly worried we'll miss some great technology as well since we think of it only as a toy. Quick, someone put these things to good use!
The promise of interactive movies and TV is already here; they're called "computer games". The adventures in Myst are a perfect example of that. Any "movie" made based on Myst will simply be a record of one individual player's interactive movie.
Recording music your own for friends (like via buddy lists described here) for free is covered under the fair use laws.
It's when you provide music to people you don't know (and presumably wouldn't be on your buddy lists) that you're breaking the law.
How are they going to keep a low earth orbit satellite over their little water tank? Or are they only going to zap their tank once in every 90-minute orbit? They'd have to be at geosynch for this to work. If they're not, I see them cutting (accidentally or on purpose) swaths of narrow burn-lines across the globe in nice big curves.
Or how about this: the "keyboard" you use for login is actually a window that pops up at a random position on the screen, and you use your mouse to point and click to your login, passphrase, secure key, etc. Saving mouse positions at clicks to infer keys by relative position in the window could be defeated by randomly re-positioning the window at each click.
It takes motorola several months just to move 1 bird from orbit A into adjacent orbit B.
I'm sure MOT's goal is a controlled orbit change. What if the goal weren't a controlled manouvre?
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The great thing about pure collaborative filtering is that it can easily take into account anomalous preferences a human wouldn't otherwise think to put together. It can handle anomalous recommendations based on others who have similarly discordant viewing or listening habits. However, I do agree that sometimes you get unexpected results.
Maybe if I watch some gay porn, TiVo will record that Bissel Wet-Vac "it'll put any neatnick in hog heaven" commercial for me!
A parallel to the brain/computer argument is the person/robot argument. We don't need robots to do the same things the same way people already do. We need robots that do things people can't do (deep sea diving, poisinous/radioactive environment work, etc.), or to do things people can do, but in different ways (faster, smaller, bigger, etc.) That's why you do see useful car-building robots that don't look at all like people, but no Jetsons' maid robots bringing us martinis.
So build new computers that can do things brains can't do. What's the point of comparing a computer to a brain?
But movie renal companies want you to come back to the store. Returning their property is only half the reason. The other half is that if you are forced to return, you pick up another movie while you're there! Why do you think BlockBuster went to 3-day rentals way back when mom and pop stores were trying to maximize there $ per day by making you bring the movie back the very next day? Most people are not ready to spend 2-3 hours watching another movie two nights in a row. But studies showed most people would be willing to watch another movie 3 days later!
She'd only do you if you're a woman, and if she doesn't mind about the whole adultery thing. She's currently dating Elizabeth Birch of the gay-rights group HRC. And you'd have to deal with their adopted twins Jacob and Anna.
Just because some first movers didn't last, doesn't mean all first movers don't last. Just because some second movers make it, doesn't mean all second movers will make it. It seems like this oversimplification ignores how a business operates and adjusts to changing competitive landscapes.
When I first started learning HTML, web design, CGI scripting, etc. I remember that the simplicity of HTML tags and the fault tolerance of browsers were the most amazing things I had ever seen. Never mind that you could put text, images, and hyperlinks on a worldwide public network -- the fact that most of your stuff displayed right, even if some tags weren't exactly to spec was incredible. No computer scripting or compiled language was ever like that before -- they freaked if a single character was improperly placed! This was a whole new world of smart programs that made it easy for every-day people to do important (or not so important) stuff. This was a mini-revolution in it's own right.
If fault tolerance goes away (mostly because it's hard for the programmers to implement), we'll be losing one of the greatest benefits of the Web: it's ease of publishing for the common person.
I find that criminal background checks are useful.
These were probably the most expensive surgeries ever. Why would someone go all the way to the south pole for knee surgery? I'm sure there are plenty of docs in highly populated areas where those needing the surgery live.
1) Ads don't just happen: Someone has to represent the medium to advertisers. What's the inventory available? What's the click-through rate? What's the sale close rate? What are the selects (targeting)? What's the price? Who are your other customers? Are you exposing my brand to happy people, or to people angry about all the dang advertising? What are some success stories? Why should I even bother advertising on your platform? These are generally human-to-human sales interactions.
I love Google's self-serve ads. Maybe someone could write a self-serve automated ad-sales rep? I'd love to see honest reporting on advertising effectiveness (i.e. no human "spin" hiding the crappy return on ads.) This could become the industry benchmark for open ad sales info.
2. Targeting and Privacy: Just throwing any ad out there to anyone won't work in a direct-response medium like the Web (or desktop OS). The privacy issue must be addressed. Once that's solved, people can actually tell advertisers what kinds of ads they want to see and are likely to respond to.
(Though I'm sure no /. reader will ever want to provide any data to anyone, other people out there will.)
3. How often do you really buy stuff? Just because you see a zillion ads every day doesn't mean you buy a zillion things every day. What's the right volume of ads to show to any one person over a given time?
A big magnet would erase them all in no time. You don't have to run tapes back through a recorder to erase them.
This sounds like the exact same tactics the Democratic Party uses to scare people into voting for their candidates.
This is a good development. It will keep access affordable for those who are casual users of the Internet, while asking those who are heavy users to actually pay for what they use. Putting an economic value on this activity will keep overall BW loads down -- making the I'net faster for everyone.
Of course, there are some who think that casual users shouldn't be on the I'net in the first place. I disagree with that.
We had a warning sign in the optics lab where I used to work. It read, "Do not look into laser with remaining eye."
Money money money. 99 cents for two loaves of white bread and 99 cents for a dozen eggs only keeps you in french toast for a week. Money money money.
Wow! 7 long pages of comments on this already. I read the first two pages, and the last, so hopefully I'm not repeating another post:
GO TO COLLEGE - IT'S THE MOST FUN YOU'LL EVER HAVE IN YOUR LIFE
Even if you go and major in Underwater Basket Weaving and still become a sys admin, college is the most fun you'll ever have (have I already said that?)
You'll find in a real college that there are none the petty high school rivalries, jealousies, bullies, etc. You'll meet thousands of new people who are really interested in studying something besides who's dating whom. (Certain) chicks WILL dig you, and if that's not what you're into, certain guys will dig you too.
You'll meet lots of smart folks who are into the exact same thing you're into (games, programming, surfing, etc.) There's no better place.
My only other suggestion would be to go to a college where not many people from your high school are going. Start a whole new life!
Another reason not to worry: we exist. Had lots of these things been hitting the earth, killing of bits of life or civilizations here and there over the eons, we wouldn't be here.
"...we hope to safely store samples of all samples that can be stored safely."
How the heck to you calculate value added on software? I'm not sure if labor is considered a raw material for VAT purposes, but that's basically all software is. (I'm also not sure if overhead like hardware, buldings, heating, etc. are covered in VAT.)
If you look at simple margins (roughtly equivalent to value add?) on software, customers of companies like Microsoft are going to have to pay a heck of a lot of taxes since much of their sofware products have margins above 80%!
Lastly, the following situation is exectly why there are so many US companies incorporated in the tiny state of Delaware. The EU will have to learn to deal with situations like that.
"But member states blocked that idea [of a single EU-wide VAT]. They feared companies would all set up for business in low-tax Luxembourg."
Thank God we've turned another toy (Leggos) into a useful technology! I constantly lose sleep over the Aztec/wheel mistake: they had the wheel, but only used it in toys, not to advance their civilization. (Not sure if it was the Aztecs, maybe the Incas or the Olmecs...) I'm constantly worried we'll miss some great technology as well since we think of it only as a toy. Quick, someone put these things to good use!
The promise of interactive movies and TV is already here; they're called "computer games". The adventures in Myst are a perfect example of that. Any "movie" made based on Myst will simply be a record of one individual player's interactive movie.
Recording music your own for friends (like via buddy lists described here) for free is covered under the fair use laws. It's when you provide music to people you don't know (and presumably wouldn't be on your buddy lists) that you're breaking the law.
"Spendy" is sorority for "expensive."
How are they going to keep a low earth orbit satellite over their little water tank? Or are they only going to zap their tank once in every 90-minute orbit? They'd have to be at geosynch for this to work. If they're not, I see them cutting (accidentally or on purpose) swaths of narrow burn-lines across the globe in nice big curves.
Or how about this: the "keyboard" you use for login is actually a window that pops up at a random position on the screen, and you use your mouse to point and click to your login, passphrase, secure key, etc. Saving mouse positions at clicks to infer keys by relative position in the window could be defeated by randomly re-positioning the window at each click.
It takes motorola several months just to move 1 bird from orbit A into adjacent orbit B. I'm sure MOT's goal is a controlled orbit change. What if the goal weren't a controlled manouvre?